• Question: What do you hope to achieve by your work, and what difference could your research make in the world?

    Asked by isobel97 to Anouk, Chris, Judith, Leisha, Seyyed on 13 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Chris Kettle

      Chris Kettle answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I work in cancer genetics and I want to ensure that people get the correct treatment to give them the best chance at a normal life. If I can piece together different aspects of the puzzle that is their disease and their genetics then I can help to achieve this. Unfortunately I have limited research on the go so I’ll never set the world on fire but my job is very rewarding with regard to helping people and giving them hope.

    • Photo: Seyyed Shah

      Seyyed Shah answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I want to understand more about protein structure. The proteins I study are important for helping you and I to grow and develop. They control how different organs in the body are formed, and also help us to understand why things sometimes go wrong. I want to understand how these proteins work.

      There are two main areas where my research would make a difference to the world:

      (1) By looking at protein structures, scientists could think about new medicines which would fit into different parts of the protein and change its function. If a protein is not working properly, for example, we might want to use a medicine that stops it from working or helps to make it work. This will help to cure diseases such as cancer and growth problems.

      (2) By using different techniques to work out the protein structure, I will help to improve these techniques and make them easier to use and work better. This will help other scientists.

    • Photo: Judith Sleeman

      Judith Sleeman answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I have two main aims.

      Firstly, I have a slightly nerdy obsession with finding out how the nucleus of the cell works: how all of the molecules inside it manage to form different structures and how this lets the cell use all of its genes at the right time and in the right place. That’s a huge amount of stuff to understand, but I hope to be able to make a little contribution.

      Secondly, I would like to understand what goes wrong with cells in people with the neurodegenerative condition, Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Hopefully, in the long term, using this knowledge might be able to help in designing drugs to treat SMA. If it turns out that similar things also go wrong in other types of motor neuron disease, then it might be possible to help people with other conditions as well.

Comments

  • Photo: Karen

    Karen commented on :

    Hiay – I too work in cancer genetics and on its own I don’t think my research will make any BIG discoveries (although I live in hope) but its when we piece together all our collective works that progress in the field can be made. Cancer is such a big probelm that all work understanding how it happens and new ways to treat it (or diganose it) is valuable.